Turmoil at ND over procedure for ballot
New Democracy’s unity was tested further on Tuesday by a row that broke out over the procedure being followed for the upcoming leadership contest.
Current leader Evangelos Meimarakis is said to have interrupted a meeting of the party’s electoral committee and launched a fierce attack on secretary Andreas Papamimikos and general manager Costas Tsimaras over suspicions about the process being followed to choose a company to run the November 22 leadership ballot.
“I demanded that all procedures are carried out absolutely legally and with full transparency,” Meimarakis said after the fracas. He demanded that all the tenders by the IT companies which are bidding for the contract to manage the election be published online.
“As president of New Democracy I have decided not to accept actions that expose the party and hurt our supporters,” he added.
Tsimaras and Papamimikos publicly denied that they had done anything wrong. Papamimikos pointed out that the party has received sealed bids from the IT firms that are due to be opened on Thursday in front of the members of the electoral committee.
The argument broke out shortly after the electoral committee had decided that New Democracy supporters would be allowed to vote at around 900 polling centers nationwide. The panel also agreed that new and old members would have to pay 3 euros to cast their vote next month.
